Waste-basin and flushing means therefor



- C. ADELL.

WASTE BASIN AND FLUSHING MEANS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I], I913. RENEWED DEC. 7, I916- 1,366,761.

Patented Jan. 25,1921.

i fizz/522202- r 6 Q6? @WM WM Jim 224 575 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

CLAUDE ADELL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TOKINGSBURY ELEGTROFLUSH (30., INC, 015 NEW YORK, N.- Y., A CORPORATION OFNEW YORK.

WASTE-BASIN AND FLUSHING MEANS THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

Application filed March 17, 1913, Serial No. 754,690. Renewed December7, 1916. Serial No. 135,700.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE AonLL, a citi zen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in WVaste-Basins andFlushing Means There'lt'or, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to waste basins of the type commonly known asurinals, and particularly to an improved flushing means or mechanism foruse in connection with basins of this character. Its objects are toprovide a waste basin of the aforesaid type containing two electrodeswhich form the terminals of an open electric circuit and which areadapted to be bridged by salts contained in the urine when urine isintroduced into the basin or bowl, thereby closing the circuit andcharging the urine with a current of electricity for the purpose ofdestroying, any germs which might be present therein; and to provideelectrically actuated mechanism including a valve which controls-thesupply of water to the basin or bowl and which mechanism is operatedupon the closing of the atoresaidelectric circuit to openthe valve andflush or flood the bowl or basin, certain means being in cluded in themechanism to retard the closing of the valve in order that a sufficientflushing or flooding of the bowl is assured.

More generally stated, my invention provides a sanitary urinal which iskept in a pure and clean conditionby charging any foreign matter whichis introduced therein with electricity, thereby purifying it, and whichurinal is automatically flushed wlth water every time it is used; and itmay be defined generally as consisting of the combinations of elementsset forth in the claims annexed hereto and illustrated in the acconr reiv g ra ngs orming a pa h w e e l sur 1 is a er ical, sectional ethrough a wall or partition having applied to its iront'side a wastebasin of. my inveir tion, and to its rear side, a flushing means ormechanism. therefor; and Fig. 2 is an en rsed' et il at he fl ing means9 section.

n sle with c rtai cf is we shown Like reference characters designatecorresponding parts in the two views of the drawing.

To the front side of the wall or partition 1 s secured the waste-basinor urinal 2 which is provided with a water supply pipe 3 and a drainpipe 4. The water supply pipe 3 extends through the wall or partitionjust above the basin and rises along its rear side to where it hasconnection with awater tank 5. It will be understood, however, that thistank may be dispensed with and the pipe 3 connected directly to the mainwater line, although the use of the tank provides a convenient method ofintroducing a disinfectant into the water, should such be deslred.

The flow of water through the pipe 3 is controlled by a valve 6(preferably of the balanced type), the stem 7 of which has a lost motionconnection with the core of the solenoid 8 through a rod 9. The solenoid8 is mounted within a substantially U-shaped fra me 10, through one ofthe vertical arms of which is adapted to reciprocate the rod 9. A springll surrounds-a portion of the rod 9 and is confined, under tension,between a collar 12 on said rod and the aforesaid vertical arm of theframe 10. The action of this spring is in opposition to that of thesolenoid, when the latter is energized, and

tends to push the rod 9 in a direction to closethe valve 6.

The solenoid 9 is supplied, under certain conditions which willhereinafter be explained with current from any suitable source ofelectric energy, such, for instance, as batteries 13, through aconductor 14. A wire 15 which leads from the opposite end of thesolenoid coil has electricalconnection with the metal drain pipe l ofthe waste basin 2, while a wire 16 connectsthe batteries 13 with anelectrode 17. embedded within the bottom wall of the basin 2 and spaceda short distance from the drain 0 1 let thereof, its upper endprojecting a slight distance above the innersur face of said well andits lower end being threaded to receive a thumb nut 18 to provide abinding post,

From the description t us far, it. will be i pipe 4, the salt within theurine will bridge the terminals of an electric circuit which areprovided by the said pipe and electrode 17 and permit a current ofelectricity to flow from the batteries 13 through the wire 16 to theelectrode 17 within the basin 2, and thence through the aforesaid saltto the drain pipe l, returning through the wire and solenoid 8 to thebatteries'lil. This current will energize the solenoid 8, causing it toretract its core and through the intervention of the rod 9, unseat thevalve 6, whereby water will be permitted to flow through the pipe 3 toflush or flood the basin; Y

To retard the closing of the valve 6 through the action of the springll, and thus insure a thorough rinsing of the basin or bowl, I provide adash-pot 20 which may contain oil or other heavy liquid, and to thepiston rod 21 of which-is connected the lower end of a lever 22 havingits upper end pivoted to the forwardly projecting portion 23 of that armof the ll-shaped frame 10 through which the rod 9 slides. Near its upperend, the lever 22 is provided with a yoke 2% which is slotted to receivepin carried by the rod 9. Therefore, when the solenoid is ener ized toslide the rod 9, the piston 25 of the dash-pot will be moved toward theright hand end of the cylinder, the flap-valve 26 thereon swinging awayfrom its seat to permit the liquid in advance of the piston to flowfreely through the port27 in, the piston, to the opposite side thereof;When the basin has been sufficiently flushed and freed of foreignmatter, the contact between the terminals of the electric circuit willbe broken, the solenoid deenergized and the rod 9 returned to its normalposition to close the valve 6 through its lost motion connection withthestem thereof; such connection causing" a quick opening and closing ofthe. valve which is desirable. Consequently, the mo tion transmitted tothe pistonof the dashpot under these conditions, (through the parts 21,22 and 2%) will be the reverse of that just described, or toward theleft hand end of the cylinder,.and the liquid therein, not beingpermitted to flow through the port 27 by the closing of the valve 26,will be compelled to pass to the opposite end of the cylinder throughthe passageway 28 in v the bottom wall thereof. Since the flow of liquidthrough this passageway may be controlled by the screw 29 which projectsthereinto, the closing action of the valve 6 may be adjusted to anydesired degree.

As a convenientsupport for the U-shaped frame 10, the batteries 13 andthe dash-pot 20, I provide a shelf 30 which is carriedby brackets 31secured to the rear side of the partition 1.

While I have shown my invention apweaver plied to the wall type ofurinals, I do not limit myself to this particular embodiment, as it isequally as well adapted to urinals of other forms, such for instance, asthe pedestal type.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a device ofthe character set forth, the combination with a urinal having an inletpipe and a drain pipe, of a valve for'said inlet pipe, means includingan open electric circuit for operating said valve, and an elcc trodewithin said urinal forming one of the terminals of said electriccircuit, the other of said terminals being provided by the aforesaiddrain pipe, the electrode and the drain pipe being permanentlyseparated.

2. Ina device of the cha; icter set forth,

the combination with a vessel, of a source of water supply, flushingmeans for effecting the flow of water from said source'to said vessel,an electromagnet for effecting the operation of said flushing means, asource of current the external circuit of which includes saidelectromagnet' and terminates in two permanently separated contacts insaid. vessel, said circuit being thus normally open and said contactsbeing adapted to be electrically connected together by excreta depositedin said vessel, the excreta forming part of the circuit and acting toconduct the current from said source of-current to energize saidelectromagnet.

3. In a device of the character setforth, the combination with a vessel,of a source of water, supply, flushing means for effecting the flow ofwater from said source to said vessel, an electromagnet for effectingthe operation of said flushing means, a source of current the externalcircuit of which ineludes said electromagnet and terminates in twopermanently separated contacts in said vessel, said, circuit being thusnormally open and said contacts being adapted to be electricallyconnected together by excreta deofflushing means therefor including anopen circuit, a source of current in said circuit, and contacts withinsaid urinalforming the terminals of said circuit, the contacts beingpermanently separated fromeach other,

5.. In a device of the character set forth,

the combination with a normally dry urinal having an inletpipe and anoutlet, of a valve in said inlet pipe, electromagnetic means foroperating saidvalve, an open circuit in. which said electromagneticmeans is connected, a source of current in said circuit, andcontactswithin said urinal forming the terminals of said circuit, the contactsbe ing permanently separated from each other and one of them surroundingsaid outlet.

6. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with anormally dry vessel, of a source of Water supply, a connection betweensaid source and said vessel, a valve in said connection, outlet for-saidvesseLelectromagnetic means for o] erating said valve, there being alost motion connection between said electromagnetic means and saidvalve, an open circuit in which said electromagnetic means is connected,a source of current in said circuit, and contacts within said vesselforming the terminals of said circuit, the contacts being permanentlysep arated from each other.

7. In a device of the character set forth, the combination with anormally dry vessel, of a source of water supply, a connection be tweensaid source and said vessel, a valve in said connection, an outlet forsaid vessel, electromagnetic means for operating said valve, an opencircuit in which said electromagnetic means is connected, a source ofcur rent in said circuit, contacts within said vessel and forming theterminals of said circuit, the contacts being permanently separated fromeach other, and means for retarding the closing movement of said valve.

8. In combination, a vessel adapted to receive excreta, flushing meanstherefor, electrically operated means for controlling said flushingmeans, and a circuit for said electrically operated means, said circuithaving a source of current therein and two stationary contact terminalsdisposed in said vessel and spaced apart, said contact terminals beingadapted to be electrically connected by excreta deposited in said vesselto close said circuit and operate said flushing means.

9. In combination, a vessel adapted to receive excreta, flushing meanstherefor, electrically operated means for controlling said flushingmeans, a circuit containing a source of current for said electricallyoperated means which is energized upon the deposit of excreta in saidvessel, and contacts in said. vessel adapted to be bridged by the eX-creta to thereby close said circuit and operate said flushing means.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

CLAUDE ADELL.

Witnesses BRENNAN B. VVns'r, HAROLD E. SMITH.

